Book picks similar to
The Throwback by David Canford


historical-fiction
first-in-series
fiction-historical
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Glory Dust


Robert Vaughan - 2015
    Now they're fighting for justice and revenge! They Came from one Missouri family, but Lance and Buck Chaney had been fighting on opposite sides of the war—until they were brought together ba a shipment of gold dust. Fighting for the Confederacy, Buck had been ordered to hijack the gold his brother's Union troops were bringing north to Jefferson City. By the time the skirmish was over the shipment of gold was missing. Now the former enemies have joined together again—to hunt down the man who had taken the gold from them both in an act of treachery and bloodshed.

Risky Mission


Dan Latus - 2011
    Look forward to more of Mr Latus’ work.’ Sandra M. Frank Doy, contract security specialist, is flat broke. Then beautiful and mysterious Vlasta George shows up at his door. She'll give him good money to take her to a secret location in Europe, no questions asked. WHAT COULD GO WRONG? The woman’s husband is a murderous Teesside gangster. She is running away to start a life without him, taking her two young kids and a million pounds with her. HE WANTS HER BACK. DEAD OR ALIVE. But there is someone even more dangerous — someone from the past — who also has an interest in the money. Before long, two of Vlasta’s circle are found dead. Doy finds himself in a frantic chase across Europe, travelling into unknown territory, battling an enemy he doesn’t understand, for vendettas he is not involved with. Will he be able to protect his client — and make it out alive? Perfect for fans of Lee Child, Peter James, Robert Galbraith and Michael Grant. MEET FRANK DOY, a quick-thinking, fast-talking security consultant turned private investigator. He has a talent for finding himself in the seediest corners of the most dangerous cities in Europe. He doesn’t go looking for trouble. He lives in a converted miner’s cottage on an isolated stretch of the Cleveland coast. But he never backs down from a fight and he never turns away those who are desperate. So trouble finds him. ‘Dan Latus’s style is trimmed, hard and fast. There isn’t a paragraph or word in there that doesn’t belong, so the story really rips along.’ Jack R. ‘The more I read the more I enjoyed it. Good plot and characters with some twists and turns.’ Atabarac ‘What I greatly appreciated was this writer's ability to get me feeling that I was witness, not merely an audience.’ C. W. A. ‘More like this please, publishers.’ Rob M. FRANK DOY SERIES Book 1: RISKY MISSION Book 2: OUT OF THE NIGHT Book 3: A DEATH AT SOUTH GARE

Operation Kingfisher (World War Two Historical Saga Novels)


Hilary Green - 2013
    Desperate to escape, the two teenagers embark on a perilous journey back to England to the safety of their grandparents.But there are eyes everywhere.Luke and Christine band together with fugitive Allied airmen, thinking they will keep them safe and help them on their treacherous journey.But their new partnership could be putting them in more danger than they realize. Especially when there are hostile forces at work determined to scupper any plans to get the teenagers and airmen safely back to England.With secret operations mounting against the enemy, there is one path which remains unguarded: a risky escape route via the canals.Luke and Christine take refuge on a canal barge and find themselves immersed in the complex Operation Kingfisher.Can two teenagers make it across occupied France in one piece? Or will betrayal put them and the lives of others at great risk?

Kit: Finding Freedom and Love


Katherine St. Clair - 2017
    She’s had a bit of schoolin, and now she works at the local cannery. Her friend Letty dreams of marriage and a family of her own. Kit could choose that life, but she wants more. But it’s 1895 in North Carolina, and her options are limited. In the newspaper, she sees an advertisement calling for young women to go and work for the Harvey Company – a growing chain of restaurants - that serves hungry railway passengers traveling to the untamed west. But the interview is miles away in Raleigh…does she dare? Will she leave her family and the life she knows, and risk everything for independence and adventure? Yes, she will! But it’s not easy. Leaving home is only the first of many challenges for Kit, from facing her own doubts, to proving herself, and standing up to the judgment of others – including her closest new friend. With hard work and an instinctive knowledge of how to bring out the best in others, Kit progresses in her career, until she gets a message from home. Racing back across the country to the bedside of a loved one, Kit begins to question what will make her happy. When it looks like love will be a better choice, Kit is tempted to leave her life out west behind. Are fate, friendship, determination, and good advice enough to keep Kit on the right path? Can she have a successful career, and also the love and respect of a good man? Is there a man out there who is strong enough to value her, and give her wild heart a home? Read on to learn Kit’s fate, and discover the famous Harvey Girls, whose hard work and courage helped build a restaurant empire like no other.

Chasing Down the Moon


Carla Baku - 2015
    In that moment, she understood the nature of her life: an outlier."In 1883, a young Chinese woman is sold by her father to human traffickers and forcibly taken from her family and home in the mountains of Hunan. Facing brutality and deprivation, Ya Zhen must forge within herself a core of strength that will allow her to survive. Her journey ends thousands of miles and a continent away when she’s purchased in San Francisco as an indentured prostitute and taken to Eureka, a rugged and remote area of coastal California. This fledgling outpost—a coarse place filled with lumber mills, brothels, churches, and saloons—is bounded by ocean on one side and heavy redwood forests everywhere else.In Eureka, another woman, Rose Allen, doesn’t quite fit in. Big-hearted, but hard-headed and outspoken, Rose struggles against the prejudices and social expectations of her Victorian neighbors and acquaintances—especially after she falls in love with the Chinese shopkeeper, Bai Lum. When she learns that several Chinese women are kept as virtual slaves at Salyer’s Hotel, Rose joins forces with a small group of friends who are determined to help Ya Zhen escape her grim incarceration. But even as they devise a plan to get her free, a terrible accident precipitates the upheaval of the entire town, and tension mounts as the clock begins ticking for everyone.With a rich cast of unforgettable characters both fictional and historical, Chasing Down the Moon is based on true events that tore a community apart. This gripping historical fiction and literary love story will break your heart, give you reason to hope, and ultimately make you believe in the resilience of the human spirit.

The Young Widow: An Ambition & Destiny Novel (The Ambition & Destiny Series Book 6)


V.L. McBeath - 2020
    When an enigmatic stranger steals her heart, can she know he wants her for the right reasons?London 1808: Widowed at the age of twenty, Ann has no optimism for the future. At the beck and call of her domineering mother she longs to make a new life for herself with the legacy left by her late husband. But it's not that easy. Not when it means leaving her sisters behind. Her world is turned upside down when a curious gentleman stops to speak to her. Chas is new to the area, but he seems to know a lot about her … and he certainly looks well-to-do. Could he be her saviour? With newfound hope Ann dares to dream again, but Chas has a secret. Something he refuses to share. As their friendship grows, there are those who want to keep them apart … but when Ann stumbles upon Chas’s past, she realises that only she can decide what their future holds. Inspired by the compelling family history of author V L McBeath, The Young Widow is a standalone story in The Ambition & Destiny Series. Set in Georgian-era London, forty years before the start of this historical family saga, The Young Widow adds another dimension to this epic series. Get your copy today. Please Note: The Young Widow is written in UK English. Other books in The Ambition & Destiny Series: Prequel: Condemned by Fate Part 1: Hooks & Eyes Part 2: Less Than Equals Part 3: When Time Runs Out Part 4: Only One Winner Part 5: Different World

Oaklayne, The Reconstruction


Karen Shriver - 2013
    Oaklayne Plantation is in ruins, a stark reflection of the condition of a once prosperous country and her families who have been torn apart by war. Was anything gained by the deaths of so many Americans? Is all hope for restoration gone?The Reconstruction Era is an often overlooked, but politically charged time in American history. Oaklayne, The Reconstruction presents an engaging mix of heart rending tragedy, sabotage, murder, corruption and intrigue, together with humor, romance, joy, faith, hope and love. Come along with General Adam Layne as he walks the tumultuous road toward rebuilding his live, his family, his childhood home and his country in this historically accurate portrayal of a man who refuses to accept meaningless loss.

Our Plantation: Life on a Southern Cotton Plantation during the Civil War


Richard E. Graglia - 2017
    Her husband and elder son rode off to save slavery in the Confederate Cavalry. Their plantation would now be controlled by a brutish slave master and sadistic slave overseers. Would their slaves revolt? Would Yankee armies attack and destroy their way of life? The slave master already had designs on Clare Ellen Fairchild and couldn’t wait until her husband rode off to war and hopefully die for his Cause. It was April, planting season. The very long and very hot summer awaited them. Clare Ellen was told that this war would be over by September and to ‘not worry her pretty little head’ about it. Clare Ellen was told wrong. She and her children should have worried their pretty little heads.

The Curse: A Cozy Mystery From the 1920s


Alice Simpson - 2018
    Jane grapples with a vandalized shop, a kidnapping, a creepy doll with seemingly supernatural powers, and a stolen diamond necklace. What do all these have in common? It's up to Jane to find out. About the Jane Carter Historical Cozy Mystery Series: This quirky historical cozy mystery series is set in the fictional American city of Greenville during the 1920s, and features Jane Carter, a young widow who returns home to live with her father after the tragic death of her journalist husband. Jane’s father owns a local newspaper, and wants Jane to take it over someday, but Jane is adamant that she has no desire to be a reporter. Instead, she turns her talent for writing to concocting melodramatic romances for fly-by-night rags who almost never pay on time. This work pays so poorly that Jane supplements her income by becoming an agony aunt, soliciting letters from the lovelorn through advertisements in the back of women’s weekly magazines. Jane dispenses advice to all and sundry, but her personal life is in shambles. Jane claims that she's holding out for a millionaire before she marries again, but the only man who makes her heart beat faster is Jack, a reporter on her father's staff. Not only has Jane vowed she will never be a newspaper man herself, she's doubly insistent on never again marrying one. While trying to turn out enough column inches of overwrought romantic bilge to keep her old car on the road, and herself in shoes, Jane runs into the most extraordinary circumstances. In Jane's madcap world, it's a constant round of kidnappings, curses, stolen jewels, counterfeit paintings, and hidden stashes of gold. There's plenty of crime to go around, but nary a murder. Accompanying Jane on her adventures is her best friend, Florence. Jane and Flo may get into one perilous situation after another, but they are never damsels in distress, because, as Jane puts it, "A real lady always carries her own pocket knife." Neither Jane nor Flo think it beneath them to slip a cosh into their handbag, either, should the situation call for it. All this getting into harm's way alarms the Carter's housekeeper, Mrs. Timms. Mrs. Timms believes it's her mission in life to turn motherless Jane into a proper lady, but seeing as Jane has just turned twenty-four, Mrs. Timms considerable efforts appear to have been in vain. However, the housekeeper won't give up trying, just as Jane won't give up on seeing Mrs. Timms and her father center-aisling it to the alter and saying, "I do." If you like light-hearted historical mysteries with quirky characters and a bit of zany humor, this may be the series for you! These are murderless mysteries. Despite a constant crime wave, there seem to be no murders in the city of Greenville. There may be plenty of peril in the form of kidnappings, heists, and the occasional assault, but nobody ever dies, and justice is always served. There’s plenty of romance, but sex is strictly behind closed doors. Suitable for readers looking for a "clean" mystery novel. This series may be of interest to fans of: Lee Strauss (Ginger Gold Mysteries), Jaqueline Winspear (Masie Dobbs Mysteries), Patricia Wentworth (Miss Silver Mysteries), Jessica Ellicot (Berl and Edwina Mysteries Series), Clara Benson, L. B. Hathaway (Posie Parker Mysteries), Leighann Dobbs (Hazel Martin Mysteries), T. E. Kinsey (Lady Hardcastle Mysteries), Margarete Addison (Rose Simpson Mysteries), Emily Organ (Penny Green Mysteries), and the Phryne Fisher Mystery Series.

Promise of Dreams


Cecelia M. Chittenden - 2017
    Her father has gone to bring home a son missing because of the war. Loyal servants give her support and comfort and are at her side when she learns of her father’s death. She promises to fulfill her father’s dream but someone doesn’t want her to, the one person she should be able to trust. He sets out to defeat her until another man, a Northern stranger, comes to her aid.

Villa Normandie


Kevin Doherty
    The Normandy coastal village of Caillons is under German occupation, its villagers struggling to survive. With her husband forced into compulsory service for the German Reich, Jeanne Dupré, mother of two adolescent daughters, risks everything to lead the local Resistance cell.Life becomes even more dangerous with the arrival of British agent Daniel Benedict. He needs Jeanne's help to complete his mission, vital to Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings. But Jeanne is suspicious that they are not fighting for the same outcome. Their joint foe is Jürgen Graf, a Nazi oberleutnant set on wiping out the local Resistance. Aware that a spy is at large, Graf is on a ruthless mission to hunt Benedict down. With the help of a network of Catholic priests, Benedict penetrates the heart of the Nazis’ defences against Allied invasion, the Atlantic Wall. As the lives of Jeanne and Benedict become increasingly intertwined can they stay true to themselves? Will they have to sacrifice all in their fight for freedom..? ‘Villa Normandie’ is a moving historical novel, presenting an accurate picture of life under Nazi occupation. It is thoroughly detailed, meticulously researched and vividly authentic - depicting the turbulent world of the French resistance and the struggle of the French people for freedom.

New York Bound


Rachel Wesson - 2017
    Nora Doherty has spent years hearing tales of Doc Erin’s skill and kindness, but she anticipates her arrival with mixed feelings. She can’t wait to meet the amazing woman her gran worked for, but isn’t at all thrilled with her mother’s insistence that she return with Doc Erin to Clover Springs—as a mail order bride. Robbie Fenton has been tasked with protecting Doc Erin and her party, but who will protect him when he sets eyes on the beautiful Nora Doherty? With New York City buried under over twenty inches of snow and millions of people stranded in a complete white-out, Erin, Nora and Robbie’s mettle is tested as they frantically struggle to help. Will Erin, Nora, Robbie survive to see futures of their own?

Oaklayne, A Civil War Saga


Maurine R. McCullah - 2010
    Conflict threatens to dissolve the country in bitter strife if North and South cannot peacefully settle their differences. The calm serenity of life at Oaklayne Plantation near Richmond, VA is suddenly replaced with passionate friction between family members, as each person struggles through perilous situations encountered by each of them during a very difficult time in our nation’s history. Colonel Adam Layne is devastated but remains strong in his loyalty to the Union, despite being banished from the plantation by his father and deserted by his fiancée. The balance of his family stands strong with their father's Southern allegiance. "Oaklayne, a Civil War Saga" is a historically accurate portrayal of a man struggling to serve both his family and his nation in a time when those things are in conflict. The sequel to this book entitled "Oaklayne, The Reconstruction", is now available for purchase in print or e-book version!

The Professor: Book 0


Alexandria Clarke - 2016
    Can Nicole crack the case of her missing professor and finish her thesis paper, or will Nicole herself crack under the pressure?

Earthbound


Mari Collier - 2013
    The two become friends and comrades, their fates forever intertwined. They find themselves together in the prairies of 19th century Texas, the bordellos of Civil War-era New Orleans, to Prohibition in the 1920s, the Great Depression, and the vastness of space.But will they survive hardships through history, the enmity of their southern neighbors and the Civil War, to be able to return to his home planet and exact his revenge? Amazon Sci-Fi Western bestseller Praise for Earthbound: ★★★★★"Well written and thoroughly researched, with realistic characters and events. I could not put the book down" - Laurie Ann Davis, Amazon Review ★★★★★"A great story with memorable characters, but to me the most fun was the historical aspect of it. Mari has done her research." - Mark R. Hunter, Amazon review ★★★★★"I don't usually read western-themed books but this book breaks the mold, blending western, historical, and sci-fi / paranormal all into one. It was spellbinding." - James Johnson, Amazon review